Albon, Colapinto and Leclerc to take penalties for Abu Dhabi GP
6th December 2024Williams’ Alexander Albon and Franco Colapinto and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc are all set to take grid penalties for the Formula 1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Feature image credit: Scuderia Ferrari
Albon, Colapinto and Leclerc are all set to start the season finale back from where they qualify on Saturday. The Williams pairing will have five-place grid penalties each whereas Leclerc will have a 10-place grid penalty, for exceeding allocated components.
Leclerc’s penalty will deliver a more powerful punch for Ferrari, in favour of McLaren, as the Scuderia are fighting the Woking-based team this weekend for the constructors championship which will conclude this weekend.
In FP1, the Monegasque was forced to miss out some of the running with a battery problem before heading out on track and securing the fastest lap. However, the issue has forced Leclerc to take his third energy store of the season, one more than the allocation allows.
This hefty grid-penalty could prove vital in either McLaren or Ferrari clinching the world title when the chequered flag falls on Sunday.
Further down the field, in the Williams garage, their two drivers have had to take new gearbox components with the team suggesting this was a ‘consequence’ of last weekend’s Qatar Grand Prix.
Alex and Franco will each take a 5-place grid penalty in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix due to the use of additional RNC gearbox components. It’s an unfortunate consequence of the incidents that occurred during last week’s Grand Prix which were beyond Alex and Franco’s control, but we… pic.twitter.com/bj1bZNntCp
— Williams Racing (@WilliamsRacing) December 6, 2024
In a statement on X, Williams Racing said:
“Alex and Franco will each take a 5-place grid penalty in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix due to the use of additional RNC gearbox components.
“It’s an unfortunate consequence of the incidents that occurred during last week’s Grand Prix which were beyond Alex and Franco’s control, but we will give it our all to finish the season on a strong note.”
This comes after both Albon and Colapinto have now taken new gearbox cases, cassette, driveline, gear-change and auxiliary components. This means Albon has taken his sixth allocation of gearbox components whilst Colpainto has taken his seventh – taking on the allocation already used by Logan Sargeant.
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Hi, I’m Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion.
I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I’ve loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.
Kamron Kent
Hi, I'm Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion. I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I've loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.
